Mobile Learning

Judy Breck at the Golden Swamp blog has drawn my attention to this page on the Adobe website, enabling developers of mobile content to make it available through various mobile phone network and service providers. For m-learning content developers, this is an opportunity to unleash your content for public consumption. As Judy states most insightfully:

Here is a call that should be answered by education if we expect to improve learning in our digital age. There is money to be made as well as ignorance to be diminished by selling mobile content for sciences, history, geography, technologies, literature and the 3 Rs.

I have one m-learning product concept I’ve been working on that I’m particularly keen to release, an immersive and engaging edu-game that has already proven successful on desktop PCs that could easily be adapted to a mobile environment. Now if I can just find some time to build it…

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, adobe, flash, lite, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, education, content, development

Another free mobile mapping solution, this time from Nokia. From tomorrow (Saturday February 10th), their Smart2Go platform and service will provide mapping in over 150 countries and over 1000 cities with full support for turn-by-turn GPS satellite navigation. It will also show users Points of Interest (POI) in their area and provide routes to get them there.

What I particularly like about this solution (over, say, Google Maps for Mobiles or Microsoft Live! Maps) is that it’s a hybrid solution that minimises the cost of mobile downloads. As well as being downloadable directly to a mobile phone, map data from Tele-Atlas and Nav-Teq can also be downloaded to a PC and uploaded to the phone’s memory. Once in memory, no network connection or data plan is required for mapping, routing and navigation. This is an effective and elegant solution – although when I tried to use the PC-based MapLoader software, it did not appear to be configurable for traversing proxy servers (which will make it less practical to use in educational institutions, until this oversight is remedied).

The Smart2Go application will run on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices initially, and will come pre-installed on all future NokiaN-Series mobile phones. For mobile devices equipped with GPS, there is an optional upgrade available at a small cost to turn the Smart2Go application into a full voice-guided GPS turn-by-turn navigation system.

I won’t be able to comment on the quality of the application or the maps until I get a chance to try them out (when the product launches tomorrow), but the hybrid solution used by Smart2Go, minimising downloads, could make this the most practical solution for educators interested in providing their students with low (or zero) cost electronic maps for location-based or situated learning.

[via: Darla Mack, AllAboutSymbian, Nokia Press Release]

technorati tags:smart2go, maploader, symbian, nokia, windows mobile, gps, navigation, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning

Tony Vincent at Learning in Hand has reported a new freeware math game for Palm and Windows Mobile users called ArithmeTick.  The game helps students become faster at mathematical basic skills – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, with points awarded depending on how quickly the problem was answered, and extra time for each correct answer.

This would be a good game for drilling basic skills at primary level or with literacy and numeracy support groups among older learners.  Educators involved with teaching math to secondary or adult learners may also be interested in Math4Mobile, which facilitates learning about more advanced mathematical concepts – equations, graphing, fitting graphcs, and quadrilateral geometry.

technorati tags:math4mobile, arithmetick, math, mathematics, education, pda, m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, mobile learning

Judy Breck at the Golden Swamp blog has reported an alien invasion!

According to eSchool News,

“Researchers from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Wisconsin have developed a project that uses “augmented reality” to teach math and literacy skills. The project involves teams of students gathering data on handheld computers to explain why aliens have landed, and in the process students “interview” virtual characters they encounter at certain GPS hot spots. The researchers say the project holds great potential for engaging students and teaching high-level skills.“.

Learning was never so fun when I was young.   This project makes use of one of m-learning’s most relevant strengths, by facilitating situated learning: students use their PDAs to access learning materials that are directly contextualised by their physical location.

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, situated, harvard, gps, aliens, education, educational, technology

Have you found yourself recently

• hopelessly lost on a random street corner?
• drooling over Steve Jobs’ demonstration of Google Maps on the Apple iPhone?
• Wishing you could use navigable, interactive maps as part of a mobile learning activity for your students, without having to dish out for GPS handsets?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above (or, in my case, all three), you will be overjoyed to know that Google Maps is now available for mobile phones (other than the Applie iPhone), smartphones, and PDAs via a simple, free download and install.

With the same zoomable, annotated maps, integrated search, route planning tools, and photo views found in the desktop version of Google Maps, this mobile application puts the world at your fingertips. Download it by opening your phone’s mobile browser and heading to http://google.com/gmm, or find more information on this web page.

And if you’re not sure whether it’s worth the download, you can even try out the mobile version of Google Maps on this demo page, which works exactly like the real thing.

UPDATE: Google Maps for Mobiles does indeed work in Australia – as reported in this article from The Age!

technorati tags:google, maps, location, based, learning, situated, proximal, iphone, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning

I’ve told many people about industry moves towards developing minature LED projectors that will enable mobile phones and PDAs to project large(r) screens to assist viewability and interaction. At CES next week, Microvision will be unveiling their prototype of such a device (pictured below).

Such a device will help to break the limitations of small screens by enabling larger, higher resolution images to be projected from mobile phones onto any flat surface. Initially, I anticipate that the biggest application for this will be mobile gaming, just as games have pushed the limits of desktop computing; but the benefits will spread to other applications as well.

(via Gizmodo) 

technorati tags:mlearning, m-learning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, projector, LED, digital

Thank you to Stephanie Rieger, who continues to inform and inspire me.  She’s posted a comment on an earlier post to let me know the Good News – and I’m not just talking about Christmas. It seems that Adobe have released a new version of the Flash Lite Player, which is free of charge and capable of playing standalone SWF files.  You can download it here.

What does this mean for educators?

Well… for one, it means that developers whose favourite IDE happens to be Flash – (like, say, me, for example!) – are going to have a lot of fun, creating new learning experiences that can be deployed to mobile- and web- based learning environments and learner devices.

It also means that if you’ve got a favourite Flash file which you’ve used in the past to deliver learning experiences to learners on the web… it’s quite possible that that material could now be utilised in mobile environments as well.  Here in Australia, Flash is used heavily in the development of Flexible Learning Toolboxes, and the use of Flash was previously a considerable inhibitor to repurposing Toolboxes for mobile devices; now, it seems, porting these valuable resources for mobile use has come a step closer to reality.

Now… does anyone have a wish list of mobile Flash applications for education that they’d like me to develop and make available here?

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, flash, flash lite, adobe, macromedia, swf, player, clcommunity

Here’s an informative and useful article from The Mobile Generation is Learning, concerning the maintenance of institution-owned sets of PDAs – storing them securely, keeping them charged, and keeping them properly upgraded.

This learning support team customised a large, lockable, metal cupboard by drilling holes for cables and air vents in it and running extension cables to the various shelves.

If you want to attempt something like this, then to reduce problems with the current through the system, design the powerboards to run in parallel, rather than in series (don’t “daisy chain” your powerboards).

Go to the article for more info, as well as information on keeping the PDA software and hardware up-to-date.

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, education, pda, pdas, pocketpc, pocket pc

This is my personal list of ten of the most useful, free software applications you can use to design and deliver mobile learning. It does not cover social mobile web apps, which will be the subject of a future post, or applications developed specifically for mobile learning, which will also be covered in the next two weeks or so.

• NoteM audio recorder for Windows Mobile PDAs: unlike the standard audio recorder provided in Windows Mobile (in Notes), which records to WAV file format, NoteM records to MP3 format. This saves an enormous amount of storage space, and enables the recording of complete lectures or podcasts, rather than merely brief notes. It is also much more configurable than the standard Windows Mobile audio recorder.
• iTube video downloader for iPods/PDAs/mobile phones: iTube videos range considerably in educational video, but it is still a superb resource of video content. Unfortunately, the Flash Video format used to package UTube videos isn’t really playable on anything, particularly not mobile devices. iTube allows users to download YouTube videos in MPEG and MP4 formats – the formet of which plays on most PDAs, and the latter of which plays on iPods and many mobile phones. Playability of video content on PDAs is considerably assisted by the following application. (previous blog post)
• TCPMP video player for Windows Mobile PDAs: The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP) supports many more codecs than the standard Windows Mobile Media Player, making it much easier to download and use video content for mobile learning. It also has some excellent capabilities beyond what the standard player can achieve, such as stretched full-screen playing of videos, making videos both easier and more enjoyable to watch on a PDA. Another one to try out is SOMPY Media Player.
• Opera Mobile web browser for J2ME (Java) Mobile phones: Usable on most mobile phones and some PDAs, Opera Mobile is the best mobile web browser I’ve ever used on any mobile platform. If you’re deploying mobile web content, encourage your users to try Opera Mobile. (previous blog post). PDA users might prefer Minimo, the PDA version of the Firefox browser with many features in common such as tabbed browsing.
• ADB Idea Library allows the user to create and organise pictures, sounds, text – and other files – into collections. Great for getting learners to assemble their own ideas and demonstrate the construction of knowledge.
• CERDISP screen sharing for Windows Mobile PDAs: the Windows CE Remote Display application enables you to put a copy of your PDA screen on a computer monitor or light projector to share it with other users. It includes a zoom tool for making the screen more visible, and uses your PDA’s standard computer cable and ActiveSync connection to do this most useful of tasks. (previous blog post)
• XSForms/XSDesigner for Windows Mobile PDAs: allows creation of mobile databases, complete with user forms to make it easy to both add and search data. Enables students or teachers to remotely log data for research or learning purposes, and can be customised to synchronise with a desktop PC Access database. (previous blog post) Another database program to try is HotWax.
• BUZZeeBee (formerly ProximityMail) for Windows Mobile PDAs: allows spontaneous, ad-hoc creation of wirelessly connected, proximal messaging groups, using free Bluetooth technology. I haven’t tried out the new BUZZeeBee version of the software yet, but the wireless, group-based text communication and sharing enabled by this product has many uses in education. (mentioned in this previous blog post)
• SmartFlash Flash player for Windows Mobile PDAs: a much more flexible and powerful player than the standard Adobe Flash Player. Plays Flash files without needing to embed them in a web page, as they must for the standard Flash player.
• PaintWinCE for Windows Mobile PDAs: not everyone’s a fan of doing things in text, or even audio. For learners with a visual learning preference, consider using Mobile Pencil – which turns a PDA in to a portable sketchpad/notepad – just draw with the stylus. Complete with a number of different pencil effects and colours to make it easier to communicate graphically, using a PDA. Similar applications include Pencil Box and Mobile Pencil.

Other useful PDA applications I couldn’t fit into my top 10:

• Magic SS, a screen capture tool for PDAs,
• Pocket Multi-Owner Hack, to enable up to 4 users to have their own profiles within a single PDA
• XNView, a multi-format image browser and basic image editor,
  
• LittleTimetable or PocketTimeTable to record class timetables on a PDA,
  
• Splashblog, which has a fantastic mobile interface to enable moblogging,
• Pocketfeed, which allows you to sync RSS feeds to take with you to read on your PDA, with OPML support,
• HP Mobile Printing, to print files from your PDA directly to a wireless printer.
• YanceyWare Reader for creating and reading large hyperlinked e-books,
• Flite text-to-speech engine
• Pocket AniEd, to create animations on your PDA.
• PocketTADS, to create text adventures,
• PocketDict english dictionary
• PocketExam for designing and delivering quizzes on Windows Mobile PDAs
• PocketPDF, to create PDF files on your PDA, and
• a multilingual text file reader
• PC-Cillin for Wireless antivirus program.
• Software developers can use PocketZeus to write, debug.comile and run custom applications on their PDA.

Finally, while it isn’t really mobile software, but rather runs on a PC, Levelator makes the process of creating podcasts (for playback on pocket media players, PDAs and even mobile phones) so much easier it deserves a mention. Dropping an audio file on the application creates an output audio file with the volume optimised for playback, without having to fiddle with levels in Audacity. (previous blog post)

New software is constantly being developed: help your employees advance as well with  A+ training, and keep your company ahead in the technology field.

technorati tags:pda, software, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobile phone, cellphone, programs, program

According to the guys at Mobile Review, there aren’t a lot of all-new features (over Windows Mobile 5.0), apart from increased interface speed, support for HTML in messages, and bundled IP telephony. If you’re not thinking about utilising one of these new features in your mobile learning activities, it may be best to wait for Version 7.0 (Photon) to upgrade, due out in a couple of years’ time.  Check out the review for yourself and make up your own mind…

(via Gizmodo)

technorati tags:windows mobile, crossbow, 6.0, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, microsoft